National Football League

Giants' defense dominates again in win over Texans

Published Oct. 11, 2010 6:43 a.m. ET

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The New York Giants had just wrapped up their second straight dominant defensive performance when defensive end Justin Tuck was asked to talk about how well the unit has played.

Instead, he preferred to discuss what more the group could do.

''We've always got room for improvement, that's our focus,'' Tuck said. ''We have played well, but I think the thing that this defense is starting to realize is that we can play better.''

Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes, two to Hakeem Nicks, and the Giants (3-2) shut down the Houston Texans' potent offense to coast to a 34-10 win on Sunday. Nicks had 12 catches for 130 yards, both career highs, against Houston's young and struggling secondary.

''We felt good about our receivers against their corners,'' Manning said. ''They're young corners, they are talented, but they're just young.''

Nicks' performance puts him in the record books with Amani Toomer as the only players in franchise history to have 12 catches, 130 yards and two scores in a single game.

Houston (3-2) entered the game averaging an NFL-best 172 yards on the ground thanks to Arian Foster, the league's leading rusher. That changed on Sunday with the Giants limiting the Texans to a franchise-low 24 yards rushing after getting 10 sacks in a 17-3 win over Chicago last week.

With Houston's offense sputtering, the Giants quickly built a 21-0 lead behind two touchdown by Nicks sandwiched around a 1-yard TD run by Brandon Jacobs.

Matt Schaub was 16 of 34 for 196 yards with an interception that led to the score by Jacobs late in the first quarter.

''They outplayed us,'' Schaub said. ''They made plays and we didn't execute. Our attention to detail wasn't good in all three phases and offensively, that starts with me. I made mistakes in the game and it hurt us.''

Osi Umenyiora sacked Schaub twice and forced a fumble, and New York's defense also tipped several of his passes, making for a long day for the quarterback.

''The guys up front, when they couldn't get there, put their hands up to knock the ball down and that's great,'' said New York cornerback Corey Webster. ''We'd like to get our hands on some of those tipped balls, but they did a great job of putting pressure on him and getting their hands up when they needed to.''

Houston linebacker Brian Cushing made his season debut after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. He had four solo tackles, but his work was overshadowed by Houston's poor performance in the secondary.

Manning noticed this week while studying the Texans that their safeties often creep forward on play-action fakes, leaving gaps down the field. He told his receivers to watch for that, and Nicks was apparently paying attention.

''It's fun when those things work,'' Manning said. ''It's not really always what the coach had drawn up and what the coach wants, but you kind of do some things on your own.''

The Giants led 24-3 at the break, and the home crowd booed the Texans as they trotted off the field. Houston had only 74 total yards at halftime.

Schaub threw a 48-yard pass to Andre Johnson on Houston's second play of the third quarter, but Umenyiora sacked Schaub and knocked the ball loose on the next snap, and Tuck recovered.

''It's easy for us to look at all of the good things and get kind of full of ourselves, but the reason why I think we've gotten better the last two games is because when we come in on Mondays, we want to hear about the things we didn't do so well and improve on that,'' Tuck said. ''I think our mindset and our focus is in the right place.''

The Texans had trouble getting anything going on Sunday and seemed to make mistakes or commit penalties every time they had a chance to get on track.

''I'm shocked by how we played,'' Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. ''The discipline part is what bothers me the most.''

Rookie Kareem Jackson intercepted Manning later in the third quarter and returned it to the Giants' 17. Johnson caught a pass at the 1, and former Giants running back Derrick Ward scored on the next play. But Manning started the Giants' next series with three straight completions to Nicks, and Lawrence Tynes kicked a 42-yard field goal with 1:22 left in the third quarter.

Steve Smith beat Jackson on a 45-yard gain to the Texans' 28 in the fourth quarter, then outjumped second-year cornerback Glover Quin for New York's last touchdown with 4:50 left in the game.

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